Strip roofing construction



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T. ROBINSON STRIP ROOFING CONSTRUCTION Filed March 3, 1923 I IAIIVYEINTOR' t $01M BY 777mm *M m, ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 2Q, 3923.

T ES

THOMAS ROBINSON, 0F BABYLON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ANACONDA $AI|ES COHE- i arivr cri ics.

IANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

STRIP ROOFING CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed March 3, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS RoBINsoN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Babylon, Lon Island, in the county of Suffolk, State of ew York, have invented certain new and use' ful Improvements in Strip Roofing Constructions; and I do hereby declare the followin to be a full, clear, and exact description ot'the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains. to make and use the same.

This invention relates to roofing elements such as are commonly made in the form of shingles, tiles, strips and other similar shapes. Roofing of this type is customarily made of various substances, such as asphaltic or bituminous compositions, asbestos products, impregnated felt or burlap, magnesite compounds and the like and is manufactured in the form of a web of indefinite length. As the web' comes from the last step in the process,'it is passed through cutting machines which cut it in the desired shape and size.

The elements so formed are usually designed to consist of a number of units and in the case of shingles, a single element will be of such a length and have-portions cut from its margin in such a way that when the elements are laid in overlapping courses, the a pearance will be that of an ordinary shing e root. The cut-outs are exposed and each element appears to consist of several individual shingles, the body portion of the element being concealed by the course overlying it.

Owin to difliculties in handling, expansion an tendency to warp 0r curl, it is not. satisfactory to make an element larger than the four shingle size, and even, in this length, the difficulties referred to are such as to render the three shingle size more desirable, even though somewhat more expensive to lay. It is not possible to use such elements in the form of a web or roll, although this form of roofing is much easier to handle, because the long strip would change in length 7 during temperature changes, and warping and curlin would result.

It is clear there ore that to produce the Serial No. 622,514.

desired shingle effect and to provide an ele- [when laid in contact they form one of the cut-outs, there is a likelihood that any carelessness in laying will result in an aperture through which wind and rain may enter. This frequently occurs even when the ele ments are skillfully laid, due to expansion and Warping, and results in leakage which is of course a great drawback. Furthermore, the portions of the elements which are removed to give the shingle appearance are so much waste and this is a considerable item of expense in quantity production.

The object of the present invention, which is now to be described, is to provide roofing elements in a form which combines the advantages of the strip and roll, types, while eliminating the several disadvantages referred to. I accomplish the desired result by cutting the web of roofing into unitary elements provided with projecting and reentrant portions, and joining the elements together by suitable flexible means while maintaining them in spaced relation. Such a strip may be produced in indefinite lengths and may be shipped in bundles which are easily spread upon the roof while the in dividual. units automatically assume their proper relative positions.

For a better understanding of the invention,'reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan view showing portions of three courses of a roof made up of the old three unit elements. Fig. 2' is a similar view of a root made up of the new strip roofing. Figs. 3, 4- and 5 are bottom plan views of a portion of a strip showing various forms of flexible connecting means. Fig. 6 shows a bundle of the new roofing partly undone and Fig. 7 shows a plan view of a strip of roofing showing how the elements are out from the web.

In Fig. 1 there is shown aroof as laid at present. 8 represents the body of a three unit element cut-out as at 9, 9 to form portions 10, 10 which represent single shingles in the finished roof. As shown, these elements are cut out along their ends at 11, 11 so that when two elements are laid end to end a cut-out is formed as indicated at 12. The root is made up of overlapping courses of such elements laid end to end and successive courses will be laid so as to break joint with those preceding.

As is shown, the elements in the second course are laid with their exposed edges lying flush with the ends of the cut-outs as at 13 and it will be seen that the distance between the ends of these cut-outs and the concealed edge of the elements next beneath them is relatively small. The concealed edge referred to with reference to the cut-outs 1 1 of the second course is shown at 15. Since this distance is so small, it follows that unusual care must be exercised in placing the elements end to end, as at 16, to secure a ti ht roof and even under the best condic3113, the ends are likely to gap and so per mit rain, wind and snow to enter. The conditions which have been described with reference to the point 16 recur throughout the root.

In order to overcome the disadvantages of the type of roofing just described and to furnish rooting in a form which may be easily handled and laid, I cut the web illustrated in Fig. 7 into a plurality of units 17. Each of these elements is shown to have along its sides and near the end which is to be concealed when it is laid in place, projecting portions 18, 18, adjacent which are re-entrant portions 19, which correspond to the shape of the projections. These elements are cut from the web by means of a suitably shaped knife mechanism, and are then carried along on a conveyor which passes underneath a spacing device. The purpose of this spacing action is to permit of the application of the flexible connecting means as willpresently' be described so that the elements when connected will be spaced apart so as to give the shingled appearance when laid. It will be noted that the relative positions of the projecting and re-entrant portions on the opposite margins of each unit are reversed so that when a pair of units is laid side by side the projecting and reentra'nt portions of the two will inter engage.

In order to connect the elements in a strip which may be readily handled, I use various forms of connections, of which three are illustrated. It is to be understood that any flexible connection which may be easily ap- -made of a light, flexible wire,

plied and which is cheap will serve the purpose. trength is not a consideration, inasmuch as the connecting means does not in any way assist in holdmg the elements to the roof.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated the use of a strip of burlap 20 which is comparatively narrow and which is applied on the back face of the elements, along that edge which will normally be concealed when the elements are in place. As the elements move along on the conveyor from the cutting devices, they will be properly spaced as shown in Fig. 3 and the strip of burlap or other cheap textile material of that character may be applied by means of a suitable pressing roller, theburlap or the elements having first been treated with an adhesive. It is desirable that any textile material which is used for this purpose should be comparatively thin so that it will not render the elements bulky when bundled together and will not mar the appearance of the roof. It should also fold readily so that the bundles may be easily folded together and taken apart.

In Fig. 4 there is shown the use of a series of tapes, strings, or other like materials for use as connectors. These strings may be applied in a manner similar to that used for the application of the burlap, or else the elements may be cut as shown m Fig. 7 and the tapes applied, before the roofiing material is completely dry from the manufacturing steps.

In Fig. 5 there is shown the use of metal connectors 22. Ihese will preferably be the ends ct which are bent so as to project into the body of the element, somewhat after the manner of metallic belt laces. Any light, flexible Wire will serve for this purpose, such, for instance, as a flattened, soft copper wire or I mayuse a pair of links or other similar metallic connecting means.

In attaching the connecting means to the elements it will be observed that the latter are spaced apart a slight distance so that at the ends which are to be exposed the distance between adjacent elements, as at 23, will be about equal to the width of the ordinary cut-out, and the interengaging portions 18 and 19, previously referred to, are of such depth that even when the elements are spaced apart the projections on one element will still extend some distance into the ire-entrant portions of the adjacent element. T he consequence is that the space 23 is blocked by one of the projections 18 entering the portion 19 as is shown in Fig. 3, and this projection 18 will be located at a considerably greater distance than the depth of an ordinary cut-out from the edge 24 which is to be exposed.

By so locating these parts, they will not the elements when in place on onl be concealed but will also prevent the lea age previously referred to. To attain the latter object, they will be located forward of the rear edge of the course immediately beneath.

As the elements are passed from the de vice for applying the connecting means, they will be removed from the conveyor so as to form a zig-zag bundle, such as is shown in Fig. 6. The first element will be permitted to fall from the conveyor in one direction while the one succeeding will be turned in the opposite direction. In this way a bundle of any size may be formed. Ordinarily the bundles of most convenient size will cover 1/5 to 1/3 of a square of roofing and it will be seen that whereas a bundle of ordinary multiple unit shingles would be bulky and unwieldy, due to its length, a bundle of the new strip element will be of a convenient size to handle.

When the roofing of the new strip form is to be laid in place the bundles will be taken to the root and the roofer will grasp the top element and carry it along the root, the bundle being thus unfolded and laid in a manner very similar to that used with roll roofing. When the strip is pulled out so that the connecting devices are taut'the elements will be automatically spaced apart the requisite distance to produce the cutout effect over the exposed portions. Each element will then be secured in place in the usual manner.

It will be seen that by making a roofing in the form just described the elements may be considered as altogether separate so far as expansion and contraction is concerned, and as each element is relatively small the difiiculty due to warping-and curling will be elimated. is shown in Fig. 2, each successive course will overlie the one beneath it so as to expose the separated edges of the elements thereby producing the cut outeffect while the projecting and re-entrant members are con cealed. These interlocking members serve to close the space between the edges of adjacent elements and so prevent wind and rain from entering. Furthermore, the protective qualities of the roof will not depend on the skill of the workman since in pulling out the strip from the bundle the elements will be properly spaced and no care need be taken in the proper spacing of the ends of the strips. since it is only necessary that the tongue and groove portions engage. It will be seen. upon consideration of Fig. that there are no portions of the roof which otter the disadvantages indicated at the point 16 in Fig. l, and the ease and convenience with which the roofing in this im 'n'oved form may be handled. and laid will be quite apparent. Furthermore, in cutting the elements the necessary cut-out efieot which roduces the shingled appearance is provi ed for without waste of material, since the elements are separated simply by a knife cut and the interlockingportions are formed without removal of material from the main body of the web.

lVhile I have shown three different forms of connecting device, it will be clear that others may be used with equally satisfactory results. The elements, once laid, and secured to the roof in the usual manner do not depend in any way on the strength of the connecting means, the latterbeing used solely for convenience in handling, and for providing the proper spacing, which in the case of the ordinary shingled roof, must be carried on by the workman. While the strips, as manufactured, will be taken from the machines in indefinite lengths, and may be transported in the form of large bundles, when it is desired to lay these bundles, they may be easily separated into strips of any desired length to meet the needs of the oc casion, and to provide bundles which may be easily carried to the roof and there applied. Again, if it is necessary for any reason to make use of a single element for an odd nook or corner, this may be easily secured simply by cutting the connecting means, whereas in the case of a three or four unit element, such as has previously been described, it is necessary to cut through the body of the element itself.

The specific form of the interengaging parts as shown in the drawings is the one preferred but other shapes will serve the purpose. In the design of such parts it is necessary that the elements may be cut from the web and these parts formed in a single operation and without wast .The interengagement should be such as to permit the desired separation of the elements while still blocking the passage way formed between the adjacent ot' the spaced elements.

I claim 2- l. A strip roofing of the class described, comprising a plurality of elements having interengaging portions along their lateral edges and means connecting said elements and serving to limit their separation.

A strip roofing of the class described comprising a series of connected units haw mg mterengaging portions on their adjacent edges.

3. strip roofing of the class described comprising a plurality of elements flexibly connected side by side and having intereiigaging portions on their adjacent edges.

4. A strip roofing of the class described comprising a plurality of similar elements, formed with projecting and reentrant portions along their lateral margins, and means to connect said elements side by side with the pro ecting portions of one element inserted in he reentraniportions 0f the adjw serving i0 permit the partial separation 01 cent @1011 11m. and; a1 nzs uring the laying operation 5. A snip roofing of the class described While prsveming the isengagement (pf the W comprising: a plurality 0%"? elements having in'tern ging portions. portions of their lateral margins adapted $30 In zesiinmny whereof 3i afiix my signawre. be intcrengagcd, and flexible connections betwven such elements, said comwflicns THQMAS ROBINSON. 

